Milan Carl (drums, DENMANTAU), MY FIRST TIME: “I had my first experience with music when I was able to think. I listened to a lot of music with my parents and a guy who lived in the neighborhood. My older sister started with the piano and my little sister and I followed. I was six and couldn’t resist. Just one year earlier I had joined my sister’s piano teacher’s classical choir in a church. At 10 I got my first drum kit and lessons. After that I stopped playing piano and became obsessed with drums and rhythm. I loved drums but I was missing melody so I bought myself a saxophone at 23.”
They arrived in Los Angeles on a mission: to be the biggest band in the world. German born and bred, they’ve honed their chops and are stopping at nothing to share their tight, bohemian, insanely danceable music with every pair of ears from here to the moon. Set to be a highlight show at youbloom LA, you really need to see these guys. For fans of: the good Pearl Jam stuff, Jack Penate, Paolo Nutini
Maddie (vocals, Polaris Rose), MY FIRST TIME: “(My) first memory of music is sitting in the backseat while my dad drove across Japan. He passionately introduced me to Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell II. Soon (we) were singing the duets together. (Peter: “She still has bad taste in music to this day.”)”
Instantly friendly and infectious, with precise vocal harmonies, and an uncanny understanding of what makes a hook do its best work. (Seriously, how did you write those??) At times epic, other times unexpected, the group have alt-pop sensibility coming out of their ears, and they gel so well it’s hard to imagine they’ve only been on the scene two years. For fans of: 90’s stuff, Elvis Costello, The Black Keys
Rob Nakai (guitar/kick drum/vox, Quietly Kept), MY FIRST TIME: “The first real time I remember music moving me and getting me excited was listening to Richie Valens and Chuck Berry. Rock ‘n’ roll! I was probably seven or eight and a cardboard tube was my guitar as I jumped around playing along to the soundtrack of 1950s youth movement. It was about six years before I felt that feeling again when I got into punk rock.”
Calah Mae (vox/tambourine, Quietly Kept), MY FIRST TIME: “I actually grew up on a small farm in Wisconsin listening to only country!! Crazy, I know, but I used to be in the barn, mucking stalls and I would just be singing my heart out. My dad used to take me to karaoke nights at bars so that I could sing; I guess maybe I always knew that music would find me…some way.”
It must be that independent New Mexican streak running through the music like an unidentifiable fascination that keeps you hooked. Managing somehow to blend punk stylings with introspective acoustic americana and the clear, sweet vocals of pop, the duo behind Quietly Kept aren’t about to be put into a box and labeled; instead, they’re turning heads and winning fans everywhere they go. We can’t wait to have them in LA. For fans of: Blackbird Raum, Brook Pridemore, Lynched
Matthew Irwin (rhythm guitar/lead vox, Foreign Affairs NI), MY FIRST TIME: “I’ve always grown up with music. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact moment where I thought, ‘this is the most amazing thing’. My mum and dad always listened to music and I partook in that, too, but the big turning point was when I came home from a scuba diving lesson and Green Day American Idiot was there waiting for me. It changed my life; it’s the first album that made me want to be a musician. I got my first guitar that Christmas and it all went from there!”
An ardent, sincere take on a well-loved genre. Sounds are clean and tight. There’s energy and storytelling in spades. Foreign Affairs NI show up with their hearts on their sleeves, ready to sleep on your kitchen floor if you’ll let them play a gig. This is how the best pop punk should be. For fans of: The Ataris, You Know The Drill, The Get Up Kids
The second annual youbloomLA Music Festival & Conference is happening this weekend in northeast Los Angeles THU-FRI-SAT 10.11.12. We’ve got over 50 independent acts and a host of top drawer industry insight. Shall we make it a date?
#youbloomLA2015 